Industrial Plan Unacceptable: Burr Ridge Panel

BURR RIDGE, IL – A Burr Ridge committee that reviewed a proposal for a commercial development found it unacceptable, the panel's chairman said Friday.

The village released a two-page letter from Gerald Sweeney, who heads the committee. The letter was addressed to the village's Plan Commission, which plans to hold a Jan. 20 hearing on the project.

Sweeney wrote about the old CNH Industrial property, where a developer is planning seven industrial buildings.

The committee met two weeks ago.

"The consensus is that the proposal is unacceptable for multiple reasons," Sweeney said. "The public comments were equally and uniformly unfavorable."

Sweeney said the committee had several concerns with the proposal for the 110-acre property:

• The proposed industrial warehouses are incompatible with the neighboring houses and park.
• The development would bring a big increase in around-the-clock truck traffic, which would hurt the area.
• The developer, Bridge Industrial, is proposing a spec building without identified tenants. Sweeney said similar buildings throughout the area have vacancies.

Sweeney said the committee suggested other uses be considered, particularly housing for seniors, empty nesters or those looking to downsize.

"The CNH site is the last 110 acres of developable land in Burr Ridge, and the future character of the community must be considered," Sweeney said.

The committee, he said, also wants Bridge Industrial to do an environmental study, including an air quality analysis, because of the proposed increase in truck traffic.

By Sweeney's count, three committee members found the plan unworkable, while another three felt it was workable with amendments. Still another member considered the proposal workable as it.

The amendments, Sweeney said, would "drastically" change Bridge's proposal.

For decades, the 110-acre site at 6900 Veterans Boulevard has been the site of International Harvester, then CNH.

CNH's predecessor, International Harvester, was tied to Burr Ridge's history.

According to the village, International Harvester's decision to build a research center nearby prompted residents to vote for incorporation in 1956 as the village of Harvester. The name changed to Burr Ridge six years later.

Burr Ridge's Harvester Park was named in honor of the company.